Brits see Rachel Reeves as ‘incompetent’ as she faces make-or-break Spring Statement TOMORROW – with BoE giving grim development warning forward of ‘£15bn’ cuts package deal

Brits view Rachel Reeves as ‘incompetent’ as she prepares to deliver a make-or-break Spring Statement tomorrow. 

Polling by More in Common revealed the word was the most popular response when people were asked to sum up the Chancellor.

It also exposed the scale of the gloom among the public, with nearly half not convinced the cost of living crisis will ever end.

Just 29 per cent believe that Labour will improve things for them personally. 

The findings emerged with Ms Reeves set to impose £15billion of cuts at the fiscal event as she desperately tries to balance the books.

Stalling growth and rising debt interest costs – plus fears of a Donald Trump trade war – have wreaked havoc with plans made at the Autumn Budget.

The government unveiled £2billion in grant funding to deliver up to 18,000 new affordable homes in England this morning, as Ms Reeves tries to cool Labour anger at ‘austerity’ moves to slash benefits.

Polling by More in Common revealed ‘incompetent’ was the most popular response when people were asked to sum up the Chancellor – although ‘good’ also ranked highly

The government has unveiled £2billion in grant funding to deliver up to 18,000 new homes in England this morning, as Rachel Reeves (pictured on a visit with Angela Rayner) tries to cool Labour anger at ‘austerity’ moves to slash benefits

The survey also exposed the scale of the gloom among the public, with nearly half not convinced the cost of living crisis will ever end

Just 29 per cent believe that Labour will improve things for them personally

More in Common director Luke Tryl said: ‘Overall Britons generally believe the Spring Statement will be bad for them personally – and are particularly likely to think the disabled, pensioners, those on benefits and farmers will be negatively affected by the statement.’ 

She must fill hole in the public finances that could be as much as £15billion, even after proposals were unveiled to cut £5billion off welfare. 

That will have to come from lower spending as Ms Reeves has ruled out tax rises at this stage. 

Although overall budgets are still expected to rise in real terms overall in the coming years, unprotected departments will be exposed to cuts. 

Speaking at Leicester University last night, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the UK faced ‘strong headwinds’ in securing growth.

Tomorrow the Treasury’s OBR watchdog is expected to follow Threadneedle Street’s example by halving economic forecasts for this year.

Mr Bailey stressed the need to overhaul the way UK plc works and take advantage of AI advances.

‘We face a necessary challenge to raise the potential growth rate of the economy. There are strong headwinds,’ he said.

‘The combination of technology and trade remains an essential route to increasing productivity.’

He said AI is the technology most likely to ‘move the needle’ on growth, and played down fears that it would replace significant swathes of the population’s jobs, comparing the technology to the industrial revolution.

There was ‘no doubt transitional pain and suffering at the time’ back then, he said, but it ‘did not lead to mass unemployment, and I do not believe this will be the case with AI’.

He was speaking after the Bank voted to hold interest rates at 4.5 per cent last week, as policymakers warned that uncertainty over trade had intensified following new US tariffs.

Speaking at Leicester University last night, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the UK faced ‘strong headwinds’ in securing growth (file picture)

Borrowing figures on Friday showed £132billion was racked up in the year to February – £20.4billion more than the Treasury’s OBR forecast as recently as October

Eight members of the Bank’s nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep rates on hold earlier in March while they assess the impact of economic developments around the world.

Mr Trump has imposed tariffs on UK and EU steel and aluminium imports, as well as on Canada, China and Mexico in recent weeks, leading to a wave of retaliatory tariffs around the world.

The MPC said there were risks to the economic outlook for the UK, and uncertainties about how the policy changes could affect inflation.